Thursday, June 27, 2013

Sean Dobbin’s New York Times crossword

NY Times crossword solution, 6 27 13, no 0627

We’ve seen this sort of theme before—where an S shifts its allegiance from one word to a neighboring word. Back in ’06, for example, we had one from Lynn Lempel with COLE’S LAW—each theme entry moved the S from the beginning of word 2 to the end of word 1, turning word 1 into a possessive surname. There are all kinds of riffs on the concept—today’s puzzle shifts the S from word 2 to the possessive in word 1, and the first word becomes an MLB player in the possessive:

20a. [California ballplayer's pound?], GIANT’S QUID.

26a. [Missouri ballplayer's connection?], CARDINAL’S IN.

45a. [Michigan ballplayer's rubbish], TIGER’S TRIPE.

55a. [Pennsylvania ballplayer's joint?], PIRATE’S HIP.

Mind you, it isn’t a criticism to point out that the theme was picked from fertile ground. There are also many variations on add- or subtract-a-letter-or-word themes, and they generally get the job done. Crossword puzzle, theme that works, mildly entertaining? That’s the job. I’m surprised that this one’s running on a Thursday, though; with eased-up clues, it would not be out of place on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Anyone else get confused by 60a: [The Penguin's player in "Batman Returns"] parked right beneath the Pittsburgh PIRATE’S HIP? I thought of the Pittsburgh Penguins before Danny DEVITO.

Five more clues:

11d. [One way to prepare pollo], AL MARSALA. I was reading this as the Spanish pollo rather than the Italian. Understandable mistake, right?

12d. [Where Ronald Reagan worked as a sports announcer], DES MOINES. Trivia I did not know.

29d. [Hassan Rowhani, for one], IRANI. He’s the newly elected president of Iran, but that makes him an Iranian (the preferred and prevailing demonym) and not an Irani. I roll my eyes at every single puzzle that clues IRANI as if it’s totally the word we all use instead of Iranian.

Bruce Sutphin’s Fireball crossword, “Turning Tail”

Fireball answers, 6 27 13

Excellent theme idea and execution. The puzzle’s title and the phrase “BRING UP THE REAR” are used to inspire the other theme answers to have a synonym for “hindquarters” make a 90° turn upwards into a Down answer:

Jean O’Conor’s Los Angeles Times crossword

LA Times 130627

Unusual placement of the revealing answer(s) in today’s puzzle: INTHE/BAG is broken in two to fit in the bottom-left and bottom-right corners. Each of the 4 theme answers ends in something that is typically stored in a bag. It’s a cute theme idea, and the theme answers themselves are very good, viz:

[*Polite words showing little interest], NOTMYCUPOFTEA

[*Words often heard after "Welcome"], YOUVEGOTMAIL. Since AOL was never in South Africa it’s merely something in that movie to me. I’m told AOL is declining in popularity, although both Will Shortz and Rich Norris are AOLers…

[*Verbal gamesmanship], TALKINGTRASH. The order of these words does not affect their meaning!

[*Metaphorical boundary], LINEINTHESAND

It is a dense grid, but I must say I found myself frowning an awful lot at the short fill today. There are some good long answers: SLUMDOG, LAMEDUCK, and also TABOULI. I hadn’t heard of the latter, but it’s an interesting, colourful answer. Apparently, it’s from Syria so maybe Foodie/Huda will come by with more?

The answers/areas that bothered me: TENTER as [Backpacker, often], shameless roll-your-own as clued. Though it is a legitimate technical word for a drying frame. ERIQ/ESQS: I am willing to bet the number of people excited about the Q is less than the number frowning about the plural abbr. or the overused (but legitimate) name. The area around LAMEDUCK. I like the answer LAMEDUCK but is it worth it if you have to use ALIT, ISON, ICAL ([Canon ending?] – who doesn’t love those we’re-pretending-this-is-a-legit-suffix clues?), SLS and EKGS?

English Romantic poet John Keats (who lived just a short span of 25 years!) serves as the inspiration for today’s CrosSynergy puzzle. Constructor Donna S. Levin takes his last name and anagrams it four times to come up with starting words for her theme phrases:

[Bistro fare for meat-and-potatoes lovers] clues STEAK FRITES – the French “frites” is signaled by the “bistro” in the clue methinks.

To [Declare ownership] is to STAKE A CLAIM – do people use stakes to claim land anymore? Seems very Wild Wild Westish, but of course the phrase has become idiomatic today.

[Venture into dangerous territory] clues SKATE ON THIN ICE – again a phrase that has taken on much more than its literal meaning.

Looks like these four are really the only four options for this theme, as there really isn’t a phrase that starts with TEAKS. I think “steak frites” is somewhat of an outlier as the other three are verbal phrases, but that’s a minor nit as all four are fun. I had trouble with the FITB clue [Bani-___ (former president of Iran)], but once SADR fell with the crossings, it seemed familiar from an Iraqi city with the same name. My FAVE entry today was MOLESKIN for [Blister pad material]. Not sure what a “blister pad” is, but it does remind me of the moleskine journals I used in my writing classes. My UNFAVE was [Third string] or C-TEAM. A-Team and B-Team, yeah, but let’s stop there, shall we? Also, and though E SHARP is an [F natural's equivalent] it’s rarely referred to as such (only in the (I believe rare) keys of C# and F# major and A# and D# minor).

Aimee Lucido’s American Values Club crossword, “Role Play”

AV Club crossword answers, 6 27 13 “Role Play”

Am out of time! Super quick, then: Theme answers are GENDER BENDERs in that an embedded HIM or HER (not circled in the original puzzle) bends mid-answer. Evenly split between three HIMs and three HERs, although do we not wish to reject this gender binary? Elegantly, the HIMs and HERs occupy exactly symmetrical spots in the grid. Somewhat less elegantly, HERAT and HEROD also appear in the grid without bending at the HER.

Tougher than 3/5 on the AV scale, if you ask me. I’d call it 4.

Fresh clues for CASTRO ([If you're going to San Francisco, you're going to meet some people selling penis cookies there, with "the"]) and HOARD ([Act like someone on a disturbing A&E show]) and ADAPTOR ([Electrical device more-or-less synonymous with "charger"]).

Overall rating, four stars. Tough, interesting.

Brendan Quigley’s website puzzle, “Time Out” — Matt’s review

Brendan goes outside the box today, thrice taking a literal “time out”; that is, you have to put a word for a long period of time on the right edge of the grid:

17-a [Trying to look brave] = PUTTING A BOLD FAC(E ON)

35-a [Cell phone feature] = DIGITAL VIDEO CAM (ERA). I had DIGITAL VIDEO REC (ORDER) here at first. ORDER isn’t a period of time, but you have to admit it sounds like it should be.

So that’s an amusing outside-the-gridder. Beautiful, wide-open grid, too — 72 words, so freestyle territory. SIAMESE, MATA HARI, VANITY, SILVER, NAACP, TV SET, AM/FM, BAD CASE, LIONEL Messi (not to be confused with Lionel Richie), and all tied together with the themers-connecting ART MOVEMENT. And, more or less, no dreck, though I would give BOCCIE a “var.” tag since I’ve only ever seen it without the I. But overall, Bravo.

Top 3 clues: [Camel droppings?] for ASHES, [Crack squad?] for DEA, and [___ Mr. T (plant that grows in the shape of a mohawk)] = CHIA.

SLADE [Band whose songs were massive hits in the UK in the early 70s and then subsequently covered just about note for note by Quiet Riot whose versions peculiarly became US hits in the early 80s]. Now I’ll grant you that’s not quite as snappy…

Well, “Cum On Feel Tha Noize”, which Quiet Riot were forced into recording by their label, although they didn’t want to, was a massive hit.
I’d like a clue featuring Slade’s leader, he has such a great name–”Noddy Holder.”

Amy, the voice on the YouTube video you linked to isn’t a real cricket commentator; it’s a British comedian named Anthony Richardson who has a series of videos where he provides humorous commentary on various American sports through a British lens. He’s best known for his “CPU vs CPU” shorts where he adds commentary to sports-themed video games. Here is one of my favorites.

Toubouli salad? You’re kidding! Great stuff — almost a staple in my cooking for myself. Bulgar wheat, lots of fresh parsley, mint, other herbs ad libitum, chopped tomato, scallions, olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper. I often add a pinch of cumin. You can make it with Israeli couscous too.

Liked the NYT a lot, even though it is a familiar repeat theme. I thought the new theme entries were great. But I don’t get “Beatle” for {Apple grower?}. Presumably I’ll slap my head 5 ‘ 01″ after posting. And, never having heard of “Slade,” I haven’t the faintest idea how else to clue it. Good puzzles today. Loved Bruce’s Fireball and liked the LAT.

NYT Thursday minor clue quibble: 17-Across. Why “Women’s”? Why not just “Soccer star Wambach”? My ten-year-old son can name this athlete in his sleep with just her last name as a prompt (a theory I tested this morning). If you’re not into soccer, you can probably name Beckham and Pele and… it stops there. But if you are into soccer at all, even a little tiny bit, you’ll be aware of Wambach, Rapinoe, and Solo, I think.

I’m not saying that “Women’s” is diminishing as a descriptor—hardly. It’s accurate and fine. It’s just not a necessary element in this case, much like “Men’s soccer star Rooney” wouldn’t help me find the answer if I don’t follow soccer, and wouldn’t be necessary if I do.

I really liked the puzzle—I enjoyed the fill throughout, I didn’t mind the familiarity of the trick involved, as the theme was super-tight, and I was delighted to find my favorite Abby in there.

Tracy, I didn’t even see the ABBY clue—filled her in via the crossings. So I thank you for your comment. I don’t really follow soccer, but sure, I know Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo and Abby Wambach’s names. No idea who’s on the US men’s team in the post-Alexi Lalas/Landon Donovan era. It’s been a while!

at least the clue is timely, as abby just broke mia hamm’s all-time record for most goals scored in international competition. (though if you ask me, it is only a matter of time before brazil’s marta passes wambach.) that is not some rinky-dink record, and as a big abby fan, i was also pleased to see her in the crossword.

ktd: the canadian women’s team has also been far more successful and recognizable than the canadian men’s team.

amy: i could certainly name all of the regulars on the current USMNT, but i’m not sure i would (yet) classify it as the “post-landon donovan” era, despite donovan’s sabbatical or whatever you want to call it. he’ll be back on the team for the qualifiers this fall and next year’s world cup, i’d wager.

Yes, joon, my understanding is that he (Donovan) is in the process of returning to the US National team As We Speak. He did take a somewhat mysterious, semi-hiatus from the LA Galaxy; played for Everton in the English Premier League for a while and supposedly allowed his conditioning to slip, though I have no idea how one can play soccer in a major European League and plead lack of conditioning. But I think he’s only about 30 years old.

The new men’s star with the Saturday-crossword first name is Jozy Altidore. Messi and some of the Brazilian one name stars are probably fair game on the men’s side.

I have always gotten a kick out of the level of clue overkill that Will Shortz has used for the names of sports stars: “Former Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves hall of fame baseball player who hit 755 home runs and has the nickname “Hammerin’ Hank” and whose last name begins with a double vowel.”